Bayer Schering announced January 26 that it has begun phase IV clinical trials of a new antihypertensive combination in the Asia Pacific region in which China will play an essential role,

Bayer Schering announced January 26 that it has begun phase IV clinical trials of a new antihypertensive combination in the Asia Pacific region in which China will play an essential role, www.biospectrumasia.com reported January 26. The new treatment is a combination of nifedipine (brand name Adalat), a calcium channel blocker (CCB) and valsartan, an angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB). Novartis recently launched its own CCB/ARB combination product, Exforge (amlodipine/valsartan) in China. The trial will involve a total of 356 patients from 17 centers in the Asia Pacific region to test the efficacy of Adalat (30mg) and valsartan (80mg) against that of a high dose valsartan (160mg) alone. According to the announcement, 256 of the patients will participate in 10 test centers in China, while the remaining 100 patients will be at seven centers in Korea. The primary endpoint of the trial will be the change in mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at 12 weeks of treatment compared to baseline. Bayer Schering Pharma is primarily focused on diagnostic imaging, general medicine, specialty medicine, and women\'s health and is part of the Bayer Healthcare family of companies. According to GBI SOURCE, Bayer Healthcare, (itself a subsidiary of Bayer AG), currently has 47 registered products-seven of which are on the grassroots National Essential Drug list.